Plains Commerce Cares

We're Still Here to Serve You

At Plains Commerce Bank, our first priority is the health and safety of our customers, our employees, and their families. We are constantly monitoring daily news developments and taking all appropriate precautions while having a detailed plan in place to ensure that we continue serving your financial needs.

Below you'll find important information and resources that may be helpful as we continue to navigate through this challenging time. While our lobbies are temporarily closed as we do our part in fighting this virus, we want you to know that we're still here for you.

We appreciate your continued support and the trust you have placed within us during these times of uncertainty. - Steve Hageman, CEO

Update

June 5, 2020

Paycheck Protection Program

The Congress unanimously passed legislation earlier this week that could ease restrictions on how businesses are able to use their funds received from the PPP hoping to make loan forgiveness more accessible.

While further guidance and clarification from the SBA and Treasury is likely, the Paycheck Protection Program Flexibility Act of 2020 highlights are as follows:

Establishes a minimum maturity of five years for new PPP loans made after the date of enactment (as opposed to the current two-year maturity date)

The borrower and the bank can agree to extend the maturity date to a minimum of 5 years for existing loans

Extends from eight to 24 weeks the amount of time borrowers have to spend PPP funds while remaining eligible for forgiveness

Borrowers are free to still use the 8-week covered period and are not required to change it to 24-weeks

Lowers the amount that must be spent on payroll costs from 75 percent to 60 percent, though there is no forgiveness if payroll is less than 60 percent

Extends to Dec. 31 the period in which employers may rehire or eliminate a reduction in employment, salary, or wages that would otherwise reduce the forgivable loan amount

PPPFA also adds two new exceptions to the existing rehiring exceptions provided by the SBA:

If borrowers cannot find qualified employees for unfilled positions

If the borrower cannot restore its operations to comparable levels of business activity due to social distancing, sanitation requirements or customer safety needs established by the Secretary of Health and Human Services, the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or the Occupational Safety and Health Administration during the period beginning on March 1, 2020, and ending December 31, 2020

Replaces the six-month deferral of payments due under PPP loans with deferral until the date on which the amount of loan forgiveness is remitted to the lender

Eliminates a provision that makes PPP loan recipients who have such indebtedness forgiven ineligible to defer payroll tax payments

May 15, 2020

Paycheck Protection Program

Loan Forgiveness and Instructions

Options for borrowers to calculate payroll costs using an “alternative payroll covered period” that aligns with borrowers’ regular payroll cycles. This is only available for those companies that pay employees at least biweekly.

Flexibility to include eligible payroll and non-payroll expenses paid or incurred during the eight-week period after borrowers received their PPP loan.

Step-by-step instructions on how to perform the calculations required by the CARES Act to confirm eligibility for loan forgiveness.

Statutory exemptions from loan forgiveness reduction based on rehiring by June 30. This will be important for those businesses that let go of employees in March through April.

The new exemption for borrowers whose good-faith, written offers to rehire workers were declined.

Steps Borrowers should take now:

Read the application to understand if the current plan for the business makes sense.

Start gathering supporting documents necessary to be provided with forgiveness application which are outlined on page 10 of the application

If your business has employees you can calculate your average number of FTE’s over the February 15, 2019 through June 30, 2019 or January 1, 2020 through February 29, 2020. Average FTE calculation is outlined on page 7 of the forgiveness application.

For more information on the SBA's Paycheck Protection Program give our Program Specialists a call at 605.740.9402!

Mobile Banking, Drive-Ups & ATMs Are Available

Update

April 27, 2020

Paycheck Protection Program

The U.S. government approved an additional $310 billion in funding for the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) that is being implemented by the Small Business Administration (SBA).

These uncertain times do not alter our unwavering commitment to all of our customers and our local communities. We continue to work with those experiencing financial hardship by making loans, waiving and refunding fees, postponing payments and doing what we can to support our customers and communities during this challenging time.

Paycheck Protection Program (PPP)

As a vital piece to the COVID-19 stimulus package, the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP)* is set to provide a short-term lending vehicle for any employers to help keep their employees in place in hopes to avoid of avoiding long-term unemployment.

PPP loans may be used for a variety of purposes including:

Payroll costs including benefits

Interest on mortgage obligations, incurred before February 15, 2020

Rent, under lease agreements in force before February 15, 2020

Utilities, for which service began before February 15, 2020

For more information on the SBA's Paycheck Protection Program give our Program Specialists a call at 605.740.9402!

Update

March 18, 2020

Temporary Lobby Closure Bank-Wide

As the health and safety of our customers and employees remain our number one priority coupled with the nation-wide effort to help flatten the curve, our lobbies are now closed and accessible by appointment only. Contact your local banker to schedule an appointment.

Watertown South Location Closure

As of Monday, March 30, 2020: Our South Watertown location (920 5th Street SE at the crossing of Highways 212 & 81) will be closed including drive-up services.

We appreciate your understanding and will do our absolute best to meet your banking needs.

Supporting Our Communities

We're all in this together and we want to do whatever we can to help our communities. That's why you'll find us frequently grabbing take-out for our employees through what we're calling Lunchin' Locally. Or, you might even be asked to participate in a drive-up challenge if you visit us on a Friday.

Fraud Center & COVID-19 Scam Information

Expand the options below to view information on Coronavirus and COVID-19 scams. This information is provided by the new task force, the Better Business Bureau, and the Federal Trade Commission.

Government Relief Check Scams

About this scam: Scammers send you a message make a social media post claiming you qualify for a COVID-19 government grant and just need to click a link to fill out the "necessary" personal information. In the process, your identifying information is stolen.

What to do: No matter what the message, don’t click! In addition to taking your money, these sites can also download malware to your device and use your information for identity theft.

Treatment Scams

About this scam:Scammers are offering to sell fake cures, vaccines, and advice on unproven treatments for COVID-19.

Supply Scams

About this scam: Scammers are creating fake shops, websites, social media accounts, and email addresses claiming to sell medical supplies currently in high demand, such as surgical masks. When consumers attempt to purchase supplies through these channels, fraudsters pocket the money and never provide the promised supplies.

What to do: Check out the seller by searching online for the person or company’s name, phone number and email address, plus words like “review,” “complaint” or “scam.” If everything checks out, pay by credit card and keep a record of your transaction. If you’re concerned about the pricing of products in your area, contact your state consumer protection officials.

Provider Scams

About this scam: Scammers are also contacting people by phone and email, pretending to be doctors and hospitals that have treated a friend or relative for COVID-19, and demanding payment for that treatment.

Charity Scams

About this scam: Scammers are soliciting donations for individuals, groups, and areas affected by COVID-19. Some scammers use names that sound a lot like the names of real charities. This is one reason it pays to do some research before giving. Money lost to bogus charities means less donations to help those in need.

Phishing Scams

About this scam: Scammers posing as national and global health authorities, including the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), are sending phishing emails designed to trick recipients into downloading malware or providing personal identifying and financial information. If you click on a link, they can install ransomware or other programs that can lock you out of your data. Scammers often use familiar company names or pretend to be someone you know.

What to do: Protect your computer by keeping your software up to date and by using security software, your cell phone by setting software to update automatically, your accounts by using multi-factor authentication, and your data by backing it up.

App Scams

About this scam: Scammers are also creating and manipulating mobile apps designed to track the spread of COVID-19 to insert malware that will compromise users’ devices and personal information.

Robocall Scams

About this scam:Scammers are using illegal robocalls to pitch everything from scam Coronavirus treatments to work-at-home schemes.

What to do: Hang up. Don’t press any numbers. The recording might say that pressing a number will let you speak to a live operator or remove you from their call list, but it might lead to more robocalls, instead.

Investment Scams

About this scam: Scammers are offering online promotions on various platforms, including social media, claiming that the products or services of publicly traded companies can prevent, detect, or cure COVID-19, and that the stock of these companies will dramatically increase in value as a result. These promotions are often styled as "research reports," make predictions of a specific "target price," and relate to microcap stocks, or low-priced stocks issued by the smallest of companies with limited publicly available information.

Price Gouging Scams

About this scam: Individuals and businesses may sell essential goods, like hand sanitizer, for significantly higher prices than in a non-emergency setting. It is legally considered price gouging when the price of one of these products increases more than 20 percent its price one week prior to an emergency declaration from the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Misinformation & Rumors

About this scam: Scammers, and sometimes well-meaning people, share information that hasn’t been verified.

What to do: Before you pass on any messages, and certainly before you pay someone or share your personal information, do some fact checking by contacting trusted sources. See what the U.S. Government is doing about Coronavirus. There you’ll find links to federal, state and local government agencies.

Leaving plainscommerce.com

While we offer this link for your convenience, please note that we are not responsible for the content provided by third-party websites. We encourage you to review the policies of any website prior to sharing personal information to ensure privacy and security. Any products or services accessed through this link are not provided by, endorsed or guaranteed by Plains Commerce Bank.